[Noozhawk’s note: This is the first article in a three-part series that offers readers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of organized, calculated street-gang culture — and the killing of a member who dared cross the gang.

Information for the stories, including the following narrative, was derived from statements and evidence presented during criminal grand jury hearings that led to the indictments of 11 people in connection with the March 17, 2013, torture and murder of Anthony Ibarra, 28, of Santa Maria.

The 932-page transcript of the proceedings, obtained by Noozhawk in partnership with KEYT News, provides a detailed account from Santa Barbara County prosecutors of how and why 11 individuals associated with the Surenos street gang — more specifically, Santa Maria’s North West street gang — took part in an unforgiving, violent act because an associate wasn’t following the gang’s rules.

So unforgiving, in fact, that the court has redacted from the transcript the names and accounts of four civilian witnesses — referred to by pseudonyms such as Jane Doe and John Doe — to protect their safety.

Prosecutors aim to prove that the suspects, ranging in ages from 14 to 55, were working to further the success of a criminal street gang at any cost. In this case, the cost was Ibarra’s life.]

• • •

The sound of a dog barking around noon wakes Jane Doe, who rose that Sunday, March 17, to peer out the front screen door of her home in the 1100 block of West Donovan Road in Santa Maria.

Coming briskly up the walkway is a man she knows as Ramon “Crazy Ray” Maldonado, a known Santa Maria North West gang member.

Following him is a line of three men she does not know. All of them wear the same noticeable combination of gloves — a blue latex pair beneath black or dark blue cotton gloves.

They walk in uninvited, joined shortly after by four more men and a woman wearing the same gloves.

Crazy Ray instructs Jane Doe and her brother, John Doe, to sit on a couch in the living room. He orders Jane Doe to lure her friend, 28-year-old Anthony Ibarra, over to the one-story house in the neighborhood of single-family homes.

The ruse is set as Jane Doe tells Ibarra, a known drug dealer, that she wants to buy some methamphetamine, something she has done in the past.

She knows, however, that Ibarra is in trouble with the gang for not paying his “drug taxes.”

On top of not giving a percentage of his drugs sales to the gang — he owed at least $1,200 — Ibarra also has sold drugs from the gang without paying for them.

Fearing for her life, Jane Doe makes the call before Verenisa “Veri” Aviles snatches the phone, imitates her voice and sets up the meeting.

Jane Doe and her brother are then shoved into side bedrooms.

Crazy Ray, the local gang tax collector, sends his then-14-year-old son, Ramon “Little Ray” Maldonado Jr., and Robert “Tito” Sosa (the only person Jane Doe knows) on an errand, and they leave.

Everyone else is hiding when Ibarra arrives, knocks on the door and enters when no one answers his calls.

Over a 20-minute period — that to witnesses feels like forever — assailants stab Ibarra 11 times. Some of the wounds are inflicted with a Phillips screwdriver, and some come after his heart stops beating due to blood loss.

Then silence.

Jane Doe and her brother are moved back to the sofa, and Little Ray and Sosa return just before Crazy Ray emerges from the bedroom. He takes off his shirt, caked in sweat.

Crazy Ray tells the witnesses that they will meet a similar fate if they tell anyone what happened. He offers to pay Jane Doe for the blood-soaked carpet, new couches and cleanup costs. He thanks them for the use of the house.

Then Crazy Ray announces that he and his son must leave to attend church, where they are supposed to be for St. Patrick’s Day.

He lifts his pants leg to reveal a GPS tracking bracelet on his ankle stemming from an unrelated criminal matter.

His father, David “Pops” Maldonado, leaves soon after with Aviles, who has been in a bathroom for the duration of the incident.

Those who don’t leave — Sosa, Santos “Little Tuffy” Sauceda, Anthony Solis and Jason Castillo — are left to deal with the mess.

• • •

The cleanup crew gets to work drinking beer, listening to music, even dancing. Sosa, who is in charge of the witnesses, takes Jane Doe with him to Crazy Ray’s residence, and tells her brother to stay put and to make sure no one else enters the house.

A man who rents a room in Jane Doe’s home returns as she is leaving, and is told that there was a fight. Police are involved, Sosa lies, and the renter needs to find somewhere else to stay for the night.

At Crazy Ray’s house, his girlfriend, Carmen Cardenas, is cooking, and everyone else is partying and doing drugs. Pedro Torres Jr. arrives and speaks with Crazy Ray before leaving.

Terrified, Jane Doe sets an early alarm and escapes Monday morning to a relative’s house, where she hides out with her brother, who has also fled. They don’t call the police.

• • •

On the morning of Monday, March 18, the man who rents a room from Jane Doe returns to the residence before heading to work at Kmart.

Santa Maria police responding to the report of a dead body at this house in the 1100 block of West Donovan Road found plenty of blood but no victim. (KEYT News file photo)

No one seems to be home.

He can see someone lying on the floor of the master bedroom, and he grabs a flashlight for a closer look. The beam shines on the bloody face and neck of a dead person with injuries from head to toe.

The renter also doesn’t call police. Instead, he goes to work but later becomes so disturbed by what he saw that he breaks down and tells his manager what happened.

Blood soaked so far through the carpet that detectives are tracking red footprints through the house — more than 24 hours after the murder was committed.

So much blood that somebody must have died in the room, except police don’t find a body.

They see the blade of a knife with a broken handle, a Phillips screwdriver, and blue latex and cotton gloves thrown in the bushes. Inside is a garbage bag filled with bloody clothes.

• • •

Earlier that same Monday, at around 10 a.m., sheriff’s Detective Neil Gowing is conducting undercover surveillance for an unrelated narcotics investigation in the parking lot of Rancho Bowl, 128 E. Donovan Road, about a mile to the east of the murder scene.

Gowing requests a police unit that can cut the lock, and is the detective who opens the door to make sure no one inside needs help.

A lifeless leg and foot are visible beneath blankets and other furniture. The man does not have a pulse, but Gowing observes a tattoo across his back that reads, “Ibarra.”

• • •

Most of the gang assailants deny involvement during initial interviews with police, but eventually change their stories to admit having been at the Donovan Road residence at some point during the incident.

They all downplay their roles.

Crazy Ray is the only suspect who appears unafraid during questioning.

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